Fourth place in qualifying in Las Vegas may have felt like a defeat for George Russell. Because while all eyes were primarily focused on the World Cup duel between Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, it was actually the Mercedes driver who set the tone in the player city.
Last year’s winner was the fastest man in the third free practice session and was also ahead in the time table in Q1 and Q2. But then a problem with the steering occurred in Q3: “I don’t know exactly what it was – it felt like a problem with the power steering,” he says angrily.
“That was a real shame,” says Russell. “On my second lap I thought I had to stop the car on the track because I couldn’t turn the steering properly,” he says. “I feel lucky to even be in fourth place. But of course it feels like a missed opportunity.”
But shortly after the session, the Brit couldn’t explain what the problem was: “I didn’t hit a wall, but suddenly the steering became very heavy,” he says. “Whenever I started to slip, I couldn’t control it, it felt like it was blocking.”
“On my last lap I spoke to my engineer to make sure it was still safe to drive, because when you’re driving down the straight at 370km/h and you think maybe the steering wheel will fall off or something will happen, that’s unsettling and doesn’t give you a lot of confidence to approach the corner,” said Russell, who admits he’s openly disappointed.
“I think we have a chance tomorrow”
“It’s a shame that it slipped out of our hands at the crucial moment. We looked quick, it just didn’t come together, but fourth place isn’t a bad place.”
And that’s exactly where the consolation lies for him: “I think we have a chance tomorrow,” he says. Also for the win.
“I don’t think there will be a big difference in speed between the three leading teams. I can’t say who will be the fastest or slowest, but I would be surprised if the difference is more than a tenth of a second between the three teams.”
“It promises to be an exciting race, and sometimes if you start further back you can do something slightly different with your strategy. So yeah, it could be good.”